


Every Rose Has Its Thorn

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 1976, AU, BAMF Hermione, Death Eaters, F/M, Fuck Prophecies, Hermione is going to fix everything, Horcruxes, I'm Going to Hell, Messing with Fate, Or at least she is gonna try, People Will Die, Remus Lupin Lives, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Tonks/Lupin never happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-20 00:45:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7384261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione moved in with Remus when he offered her a place to live, renting his spare room for a low price. But her first night in her new home, her life is turned upside down. Thrown into the past with no explanation and no way home, Hermione struggles to adjust to life in 1976. And maybe, just maybe, she can fix the mistakes of the past and save those who desperately need it. Who knows, she might even find love in the process. </p><p> -or-</p><p>“Uh, Moony? Why is there a half-naked bird in your bed?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mysterious Naked Girl

**Author's Note:**

> I am not making any money off of this work. All recognizable characters and places belong to the brilliant JK Rowling. All rights to their respective owners.
> 
> If this fic looks familiar to you, it probably is. I had this story posted on this site last year on my old account, but took it down on the basis that it had not gone how I wanted it and needed some serious work. I still do not have a beta but I will be rewriting this story and self editing to the best of my ability. If you are willing to beta for me, I would be eternally grateful.

August 15th, 2000 – Lupin Cottage

Hermione smiled as she glanced around the small room, taking in her surroundings. It wasn’t much, but to her it was perfect. She turned around and beamed at the other occupant, the tired looking werewolf stumbling slightly as she hugged him. “Thank you.” She whispered, burying her head in his shoulder for a moment in order to gain control of her emotions. 

She felt his chuckle reverberating through his chest and pulled back, a light blush covering her cheeks. She practically skipped into the room, running her hands over the bookshelves across one wall. The walls were a light cream and the carpets were the same dark green as the curtains, the bed draped in a homemade quilt from Mrs. Weasley. 

She sighed in happiness, placing her shrunken trunk at the foot of her bed and bringing it back to its original size. She sat down on the bed and faced the door where Remus stood. “It’s quite lovely here.” She said truthfully, glancing out the window. The cottage was located deep in the forest, at least a couple miles all the way around from any kind of civilization. Of course she knew why it was so secluded but the grounds were lovely and she couldn’t wait to explore them during her evening walks. 

“This is where I grew up.” He responded, looking around the room with a small smile on his face. “After I got bitten my parents packed up and we moved out here. Our old village was no long safe for the other kids with me there, apparently.” The smile held a slight edge of bitterness now and Hermione frowned, sympathy coursing through her. Not pity, she had long learned that people like Remus and Harry did not take well to pity. “I’m sorry.”

Remus gave her a soft smile in return, shaking his head, before awkwardly clearing his throat. “I’m going to go check on dinner. You can do whatever you like with the room. This was mine as a teenager actually, lots of memories in this room. ”

Hermione looked around the room once more as if expecting to see a difference with the new information and smiled as she imagined a teenage Remus lazing around with his face in a book, but the only thing that had changed in the time since she last looked back was that Crookshanks had perched on the chair in the corner. She looked back at the door but Remus was gone and she sighed as she leaned back on the bed. She curled up, deciding to leave her unpacking for later and have a short nap. 

***  
Dinner was awkward.

Both Remus and Hermione were accustomed to eating alone, so it was mostly just eating and a few minutes of uncomfortable conversation. It had been two years since the Final Battle and Hermione had been living with Harry at Grimmauld until recently but with Auror training for Harry they rarely were even at home at the same time unless they were sleeping. 

It had been three weeks ago that Hermione decided to move out because Harry had finally proposed to Ginny and they had made plans to renovate Grimmauld as their home. Hermione had felt like a third wheel and even with Molly telling her that she was welcome to live at The Burrow, Hermione had decided that she needed a space of her own. Besides that, her relationship with Ron had been awkward at best since their breakup and she would honestly rather not open up that can of worms again. Despite relentless flat hunting, she had been unable to find a suitable place and had considered taking Molly up on her offer (awkwardness be damned) when Remus had offered her his spare room, free of charge. She had argued that and after much fuss they had agreed on fifteen galleons a month. Remus had tried convincing her that she didn’t need to pay him, but the nicer flats she had visited were around that double that cost anyways and she had plenty of money. She would have given him more, but he was stubborn about taking the fifteen galleons, never mind thirty.

After the war The Golden Trio had all been given Order of Merlin first class as well as more Galleons than they could reasonably spend as thank you. Hermione hadn’t bothered with a Gringott’s vault either, it still wasn’t fully rebuilt after their little stunt with the dragon and the idea of its safety seemed diminished after successfully breaking into it herself. Instead, most of her wealth was kept in an extended money bag tucked inside of her beaded purse. 

Her beaded purse was ready to go in any situation, just in case. It was a habit she found herself unable to break even after the war. She had copies of a wide range of books on varying subjects, a Muggle lock picking kit, non-perishable food, an extra wand that had belonged to one of the fallen in the war (kept in a safe box as a precaution in case her own wand was ever taken), clothing, and a potions kit. She had as many potions vials (with everything from Pepper Up potion to Veritaserum) labeled and stored as she could get her hands on, as well as a book of instructions for a wide array of potions that had been hand written by Snape long before his death and given to her as a gift by Minerva when the new Headmistress had found it while cleaning out the Heads office. 

She sighed, making her way into her new room and crawling under the covers on the soft bed. The wind made the window frames creak and rattle and the room was a bit chilly in the early autumn night air but she was far too tired to even pretend to care and with tonight being the full moon, she knew her sleep was likely to be disrupted at some point. Remus had not been able to find someone to brew Wolfsbane for him for a couple of months now so even though she was safe with him locked up in the basement she would probably still hear him all night if he forgot his silencing charms. 

As she slept, she was unaware of the room being unusually bright, even by full moon standards. The darkness was brightened by a silver glow, which had the appearance of tiny little pinpricks of glitter. Little balls of light floated in the air and floated downwards, falling onto Hermione through the blanket. The lights faded into the material and as Hermione began to glow the scene around her started to darken as though the world itself was fading out. 

As the glow brightened, everything else washed out to pure black as though the universe had been draped in a blanket. 

***  
Hermione was having a really weird dream. 

It had started out fairly normal, memories of her childhood with her parents that were filled with longing. But then the dream world blurred and was instead replaced by what seemed to be a grassy clearing surrounded by trees, a small pond in the center. Hermione looked around the clearing, eyes taking it all in before they fell on a shadowed figure dressed in white. Hermione watched the still figure for a moment before slowly approaching it from behind. Suddenly it stood and turned to face her and Hermione’s hand rose to her lips, stifling a gasp. 

The woman had long hair that seemed to hover somewhere between blue and black, contrasting wildly with her pale white skin. The most astonishing part was perhaps the shimmering translucent teal scales that were spread out over half her face. Her lips were the deep red of blood and her eyes were pure white. No irises or pupils disrupted the white, but they glowed like freshly fallen snow in the winter sun.

Without a second of warning the woman was suddenly directly in front of her, those haunting eyes directed right into Hermione’s own. There was an intense scent that wafted off of her, one that was so familiar but Hermione could not place it. Her heart was beating so fast that she felt as though her body was pulsing, her pulse audible in her own ears. She felt pure terror at the moment. And then, those blood red lips opened and a melodic voice issued forth. “Be safe my child. Your journey will be hard, but Fate will be on your side.”

And with that, Hermione crumpled to the ground and her mind went blank. 

 

August 15th 1976 – Lupin Cottage 

Remus was sitting on his bed, rolling his eyes as he pretended to read the book held loosely in his hands. James and Sirius had been recanting all of last year’s highlights and making plans for as much havoc as possible when they went back to school. It was their last year and as James had said with a completely serious face, they had to go out with a bang if they wanted to be Hogwarts legends. Now, two of Remus’ three best friends were busy trying to shove each other off the bed after Sirius had decided that teasing James about his continued attempts to woo Lily Evans was a good idea. He eventually gave up the act, setting the book on his nightstand and leaning forward as he put a hand on each of his friend’s shoulders and pushed them back in opposite directions. There were two muffled thumps as they hit the carpet and Sirius was the first back to his feet, pouting as he tried to fix his hair. 

“No fair, Moony.” He whined, flopping back onto the edge of the bed as a grumbling James struggled to get up. “You didn’t give me any warning. Bloody cheating wanker is what you are.” Remus just chuckled and leaned back against the headboard with his hands behind his head. As his parents were gone on trip for a couple of weeks, Remus had been allowed to invite his three friends over to stay for the duration of their absence as long as he promised to repair or replace anything they broke. Peter had only been able to stay the first week before his mother had forced him to return home but the Potters had allowed James and Sirius to stay as long as they wanted as long as they floo’d home for lunch every day so that  
Dorea could fuss over them. He wished Peter could have stayed, but two out of three was better than being alone. 

So far, it had been the best two weeks of his summer, and he still had two more weeks with them before it was time to buy their school things and head off for their Sixth year. In six days the full moon would be in the sky and then he had a while to recuperate before they had to do anything too taxing. 

The three of them left the room to get snacks from the kitchen (resulting in James being pelted by cereal that Sirius threw at him and then Sirius pouting as he rubbed the spot where he’d been hit with an orange) and laughed as they pillaged for snacks. Remus took a bite out of an apple as they planned a prank for the first day back, which would take place directly after the feast. Sirius wanted to do something huge, but James wanted to work with an idea they had for months and had never used. Remus refused to pick a side, knowing it would just drag him into the argument. 

It was half an hour later that they ventured back to Remus’ room, Sirius running ahead of the other two boys before stopping dead in the doorway of the bedroom. He was silent for a minute and Remus raised an eyebrow at his friend as he kept walking. Sirius turned to look at him, mirroring his expression.

“Uh, Moony? Why is there a half-naked bird in your bed? I mean, I think I would have noticed her there before.”

Remus, thinking Sirius was joking around, brushed past him and walked into his room. He froze as his eyes landed on the girl curled up on his bed, her slightly bushy hair covering her face and clad in only a tee-shirt and lacy knickers. A slight blush rose on his cheeks and he glanced away, meeting James’ wide eyes with a matching stare. 

Just then the girl rolled over, hair falling to the side and revealing a pretty face that was scrunched as though in discomfort. However she was quite clearly still asleep, or rather she was for the moment. Remus didn’t know what to do. He was left without words and struggled to figure out how this girl had not only gotten into his house, but into his bed, without coming through the front door and being seen by anyone. There was also the question of how she had managed to get past the wards. She couldn’t be keyed into them because Remus had certainly never seen her before. 

The girl made a soft noise and all of a sudden shot up straight, inhaling deeply as though she had just ran a mile. Her wide eyes flicked over the room and Remus noticed the look of fear on her face. She seemed to relax a bit, as though the sight of the room was familiar. James was, of course, the one to break the silence as he cleared his throat. Big brown eyes darted over to them and Remus found he could not read any emotion in them. “Harry?” She said curiously, instinctively pulling the blankets over her half naked form as a blush formed on her cheeks. But then she glanced at the other two boys in confusion and back to James’ face, her eyes narrowing before she inhaled sharply. “You… who are you?”

***

Trying to make sense of what she was seeing at the moment was like trying to understand Ron’s lack of tact. She couldn’t piece any of it together despite having it stare her in the face. Harry-but-not-Harry was staring at her, with eyes the wrong colour and small differences that had quickly made her realize it was not her friend that she was looking at. Besides that, he looked younger than Harry did. The other two boys were both strikingly handsome but in completely different ways. The first had a toned figure and shoulder length black hair that had a slight curl to it, steel grey eyes that glinted mischievously and sharp aristocratic features. The second was taller, lean with skin that was a light golden colour and messy sandy hair. His piercing eyes were watching her, slightly narrowed and she noticed a thick scar peeking out of the collar of his shirt. “I should be asking you the same thing, considering you’re in my room. Remus Lupin. Mind telling me who you are and how you got here?”


	2. Contemplation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the two people who left kudos and bookmarked this story. It really does boost a writers confidence when seeing little affirmations like that. Please, please let me know if you have things you'd like to see played out in the story or if you spot any errors. Due to self editing, often mistakes are missed entirely and constructive critiscism is hugely appreciated.

August 15th 1976 – Lupin Cottage

Hermione was, for lack of a better word, confused. _Remus Lupin?_ He had to be making that up. Because while he admittedly did look a lot like a much younger version of her professor, that was just it. Remus was nearing forty and this boy looked to be seventeen at the oldest. She’d just seen Remus Lupin a few hours ago, grey hairs and all. She remained completely silent, uncomfortably aware of the fact that she was half naked and defenceless in the current situation.

She looked back at the other two boys once more and swallowed, fervently denying the fact that they might be telling the truth. It simply wasn’t logical! You couldn’t just travel over twenty years into the past while asleep! Time just didn’t work like that. She swallowed, actual fear bubbling up inside of her as she struggled to comprehend her situation. 

The one who called himself Remus was looking irritated at her lack of an answer, but Hermione’s brain was currently whirring too fast to worry about that. If this was true, if there had been some kind of magical anomaly or event that sent her back in time… could she tell him her name without causing disastrous consequences? Time was such a delicate matter. Like a spiders web, seemingly indestructible until a single string was moved out of place. Then? Chaos. 

However, without her agreeing to the words, her mouth open and her name spilled out. She shut her mouth quickly and glared furiously at the black haired boy. He’d cast a spell towards her but she couldn’t make out the words. It had to have been some kind of obedience charm, more than likely one of the ones used by old Pureblood families to ensure the young wives listened to their husbands. She thought she saw a flicker of apology in his eyes but it was gone too fast for her to really register it. 

She took a deep breath. Already that could have been enough to damage the timeline. She didn’t know how to get out of this situation, if it was really happening. She still hadn’t quite accepted that. If the boy in front truly was Remus Lupin, a teenage version of him, then the other two boys… oh. She closed her eyes at the realization that she was possibly in a room with two men, one of which was her best friend’s father, who were both dead in her time. She pinched her arm roughly, wincing and hating that she could feel the pain because it meant that this was real. She wasn’t dreaming. 

“I-“ She shook her head a little bit. “What- what is the date? The exact date, please.”

Remus furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the girl as though she could be a little insane. “August 15th, 1976.”

Hermione closed her eyes as a silent curse escaped her lips. She slowly stood up, keeping the blanket wrapped around her waist. Remus seemed to realize the issue and silently tossed her a spare pair of robes from his clean hamper and fingered his wand, still on edge. “You still haven’t explained why you are in my room, or how you got here.” He said, voice ringing with distrust. Hermione shrugged the robes on and was relieved that she was finally covered properly. “I would tell you if I knew.” She paused, looking around the room. “I don’t… I don’t belong here.”

Sirius scoffed and muttered, “Slight understatement.”

Hermione ran her hands through her hair, a habit she’d picked up whenever she was stressed. “No, damn it. I mean, I fell asleep in this bedroom but this… wrong time, right place.” She muttered the last part to herself and then eyed the boys. She had no wand so she couldn’t alter their memories of what she’d already said. For now, she just had to get out of here before she caused too much damage. When the blanket dropped, something rolled out of it and her breath hitched as she saw it. Oh thank Merlin! She snatched up her little beaded bag and gave the boys one last look, conjuring the image of Diagon Alley in her mind before turning on her heel and vanishing with a crack like a whip.

August 15th 1976 – Diagon Alley

Hermione looked around and waited a minute to feel agonizing pain because she’d splinched herself. However no such pain arrived and she breathed out a sigh of relief, her head dropping for a moment as she breathed in the cold night air and tried to organize her thoughts.

When she’d warded off the panic bubbling up in her stomach she glanced around the empty streets, which were both the same and completely different from how they were in her time. There were all the same buildings, but some stores were in different places or absent all together. She dug through her beaded bag and withdrew her coin bag and the spare wand, slipping it in the pocket of the patched, too large robes that she wore. She slowly made her way towards the Leaky Cauldron, trying to blend into the background as best she could. A few nosy patrons watched her pass, judgmental eyes taking in her robes and messy hair. She ignored them as best she could and raised her chin a little. 

She paid up front for a room for the night and impatiently waited for the bartender to hand over the key to the room before quickly disappearing up the stairs. She had to think about how this could have happened and how she could possibly get back. She paced the room agitatedly when she actually got to the right one, slipping off the borrowed robes and changing into some clean clothes from her bag. She sat down on the edge of the bed after a good hour of pacing, still clueless as to how this could have happened. People didn’t just vanish out of one timeline and reappear in another one. Hermione didn’t like being in the dark. She absolutely hated being powerless or feeling stupid, and this situation was making her feel both of those things. 

For the first time, she reflected back on the dream she’d been having before she woke up in 1976. There had been a woman… the dream was foggy, she had been awake too long and the details had faded from her mind. She remembered there had been a woman, that it was dark and that the whole clearing had tingled with some kind of ancient magic. She also remembered a voice, but the words would not come to her no matter how many times she tried to focus on what the voice was saying. Did the dream have something to do with it? She couldn’t rule anything out right now. There was also the matter of her bag. She hadn’t been holding onto it when she went to sleep, nor had she been near it at the time. It had been tucked safely in her box of belongings. So how was it that her bag had been tangled in the blankets on the bed? None of this made sense. 

Hermione felt close to tears of frustration at this point. For now she would go back to bed and… and… what would she do in the morning? She could contact Dumbledore, but at the same time she didn’t want to further interact with the timeline. She was fighting an internal battle with the part of herself that was telling her that it would be better if she did. So many people had died during the two wars. She could save so many lives. But at what cost? What if the people she saved only died a different time in a more gruesome manner? What if saving those people meant that Voldemort won this time? She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. She thought of Harry, who had grown up unloved and desperately wishing he’d had a chance to know his parents in more ways than just through stories told to him. Who had never really gotten over Sirius’ death no matter how much time passed by.

Why did this happen to her? Was she supposed to fix things? Or was this just some huge magical displacement that left her stranded twenty five years in the past?

Hermione threw a pillow at the wall in frustration. 

August 15th 1976 – Lupin Cottage 

The three boys stood silently after she had disappeared, lost for words. The entire exchanged had been strange and disconcerting. With a decision to talk to Dorea about it at lunch tomorrow the boys went to sit in the living room instead, albeit quieter and more on edge than they had been before. James and Sirius apparently couldn’t handle being silent for a long time however, because soon enough they filled the uncomfortable silence with words as they discussed the mysterious appearance of the girl. 

August 16th 1976 – Potter Manor

The next day at lunch Dorea had asked more questions than they knew the answers to and then had reiterated all of the information to Charlus when he returned home. Even the long time Auror was stumped by it, which left Remus even more confused. Dorea had decided that the three boys would stay at Potter manor for the remainder of the week just in case, not wanting to risk anything happening. After all, she may not have tried anything last night but they hardly knew whether the girl was trustworthy. 

Remus, Sirius and James all went to James’ bedroom and hung out in there for a while. They were sick of talking about last night’s events and so instead they just returned to normal, writing down their plans for their final year at Hogwarts. Remus was terrified of graduating. He wasn’t stupid, he knew what kind of life awaited him after the safe haven of Hogwarts was taken away. With the prejudice against him, not many would be willing to give him work. He was in for a life of being shunned and he wasn’t looking forward to it at all. He could only hope that the Marauder’s words of ‘brothers in all but blood’ continued after graduation. Of course they all wanted to believe nothing would change but as they aged that would have to happen. They couldn’t stay like this forever, but they could try to hold onto this friendship. Remus didn’t know what he would do without them.

The past two years had been so much more tolerable during the full moon with his three friends being able to join him and distract him from inflicting pain on himself. Even before that James had helped, periodically aiming a howl out the dormitory window all night on the night of the moon. It had distracted the wolf and kept his injuries to a much more reasonable level. He was eternally grateful for the three boys who had accepted him exactly as he was; who had become friends with someone the rest of society avoided and illegally become Animagi just to keep said person company during an extremely traumatic time of the month. 

Remus looked at his friends and smiled, feeling a little more optimistic for the upcoming school year.


	3. Aspen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hermione goes wand shopping and sees someone very familiar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the gap between chapters but I have been busy helping with renovations around the house. I'll try to get another chapter up by Tuesday night, but no promises. I have family coming for a visit and may not have time.

August 16th 1976 – Diagon Alley

The first thing the next morning, Hermione stumbled out into the streets feeling sleep deprived but slightly less frustrated now that she had a plan. Well, a moderately thought out plan. It was the best she could do in a situation like this. First of all, she needed a new wand. She had tried a few basic charms with the backup wand last night and while it worked, basic spells seemed to take a lot more out of her and it felt wrong in her hand. Besides that, her muggle clothes were not only out of place in this time, but were bound to draw unwanted attention to her. As of right now, she hadn’t yet made up her mind on whether to try and leave unnoticed (or noticed as little as possible anyways) or whether she was going to give in to the urge inside of her that had caused her to follow Harry in the war, the hero complex that she had gained through the course of her friendship with him. 

She had transfigured an old black shirt of hers into a dress, which was passable for now. Her hair was pulled back at the nape of her neck, tired brown eyes taking in all of the people walking along the streets. As she approached Ollivanders shop, she hesitated. He remembered every wand he ever sold and who he sold it to, he would definitely remember her when little Hermione Granger walked in with her parents to get her first wand.

Hermione swallowed and then reluctantly pushed the door open, hoping it would not cause any complications. Either way, she needed a wand. There was no way around that. For the foreseeable future, she was stuck in a time where the war was just starting to gain traction and she needed a way to protect herself.

Hermione felt magic wash over her and felt a reminiscent smile tug at her lips as she looked around. It looked exactly the same as it had before her first year of Hogwarts, as though not a month had passed between now and then instead of 15 years. 

Harry had once confided in her that Ollivander had made him uncomfortable, because of his eerie silences and the way his wide silver eyes seemed to be able to see you even when he had his back turned. However, Hermione found him fascinating. There was just something so incredibly interesting about him. She smiled as he walked into the main area of the shop and approached the counter. 

“In need of a wand, are you?” He asked quietly, though his voice seemed to echo through the shop. “I must say, young lady, that you are not the usual age I see at this time of the year. “

“Yes, sir, I am in need of a wand.” She answered with a smile. 

“I remember every wand I have ever sold, Miss…?”

Hermione paused briefly, “Granger, sir.”

“Granger… As I was saying, I remember every wand I have ever sold. I’m certain you have never entered my store before.”

“Family wand.” She explained quickly. “My wand is- was- handed down to me. But every wand meets its end eventually, and unfortunately mine has done exactly that.”

Wide silver eyes examined her and Hermione tried not to shift like a guilty child at the probing look, which made her feel as though he knew that she was lying. She breathed a mental sigh of relief when he didn’t call her out and instead set his measuring tape to work as he turned to the shelves of boxes containing wands. 

August 28th 1991 – Ollivanders

Eleven (almost twelve) year old Hermione Granger slipped her hand out of her mothers and all but ran towards the wand shop, bushy hair flying behind her. Usually she wasn’t like this, but the thought of a magic wand had built a well full of excitement in her that felt as though it had suddenly erupted at the sight of the storefront. 

Wide eyes took in the shop, heart pounding furiously as a smile forced its way onto her face. The wizened old man with the strange eyes stared at her from across the store, but Hermione felt nothing but pure joy, though she felt a sense of fascination with him much as she had with many things and people so far that day. 

The measuring made her laugh and her shell-shocked parents smiled to each other at the carefree sound coming from the young girl. She had been fretting about this trip like an old woman ever since Minerva McGonagall had left their house three weeks prior. They themselves grew more nervous as the days passed, not ready to send their only daughter away for such a long time. Elisabeth Granger had not been away from her Hermione for longer than a week since the day she was born. 

Her attention was drawn back to her daughter as the wand testing began, watching with curiosity. Everything about this new world that their daughter belonged to was both fascinating and frightening. Neither of the elder Grangers knew how to feel about all of this. 

Hermione was ecstatic when, on only the third wand she had tried, warmth surged into her fingers and a brilliant stream of cobalt sparks had erupted from the end of the beautifully carved piece of vine wood with a core of dragon heartstring. All in all, finding her wand had been a short and relatively easy process. Hermione clutched the box that held it to her chest after they paid and left the store, for the first time feeling as though it hadn’t been a mistake. She truly was a witch. 

 

August 16th 1976 – Ollivanders

Hermione was growing concerned. Her first experience with finding her wand had taken only fifteen minutes and three wands, but as the minutes ticked by and the pile of tried wands only increased in size, she wondered if the reason she could not find a wand was that the one destined for her was yet to be made. She didn’t want to think of that. Surely there was not only one wand that would ever mesh so well with her magic? 

She felt herself growing impatient as she set down wand number sixteen, brows furrowed. Ollivander only seemed to get happier though, which confused her. She couldn’t begin to fathom why this would make him pleased. Was it not just more work? 

She watched as he made around the shop, long fingers ghosting over the wand boxes as though expecting one of them to speak up and make itself known. All of a sudden he stopped and pulled down one more box. It was carried over to her and set down carefully, Ollivander looking curiously at Hermione.  
The writing on the box was what first caught her eye. “Aspen Wood, 11 ½ inches, core of Unicorn Hair. Made on October 19th, 1973.”

She had yet to see a wand made of Aspen, they were exceedingly rare and pricey to make as the wood was coveted for wand making due to its beauty. She had read all about its properties in an old book on wand lore that she had found in Grimmauld Place’s library. The owners of such wands tended to be natural born duellers who exceeded in Charms work and martial magic. 

Her eyes widened as she opened the box. It truly was a stunning wand. It looked as though it had been carved of ivory, the design of flowers and vines wrapping around it all the way up to the tip. There was a band of gold around the grip that gleamed in the firelight of the candles in the shop. She picked up the wand and instantly felt warmth rush into her fingertips. She smiled and gave it a wave, watching as cobalt sparks danced from the tip for the second time in her life.

After paying for the wand (which was certainly more expensive than her last wand had been), Hermione left the shop feeling much better about being stuck here. At least now she had the means to properly defend herself. 

As she was walking away from the store, a sudden streak of red zipped past her and made her stop quickly. “William! You come back here right this second young man!”

Hermione froze as the voice reached her ears. There was no way she wouldn’t have recognized it. She spun in the direction it had come from, her eyes landing on a much younger and extremely pregnant Molly Weasley with a young boy (Charlie?) on her hip.


	4. Acceptance Comes With A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione comes to accept life in 1976 and makes a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, yeah. I know this is very late but it's been a hectic week. My grandmother showed up last Tuesday and is now sharing a room with me. My writing always took place between 10 PM and 2 AM, which is impossible when sharing a room. On Thursday I found an abandoned baby bird, which has ended up being very time consuming to take care of. Alas, here is chapter four! Late, but here none the less. At least it was only seven days between updates instead of a month, right? Love you babes, let me know what you think. And please point out any mistakes so I have the chance to edit them.

August 16th 1976 – Diagon Alley

Hermione didn’t even know how to process this sudden turn of events. Of course, she’d already come face to face with two people she knew in her own timeline, but this was different. This was Molly Weasley, her second mother. The woman who was essentially her mother in the magical world where her real mother couldn’t be for her. The woman who had watched her grow up. If Hermione had to guess, this Molly looked around twenty five years old. Still young with only her third child on the way. If Bill was the little boy running past her and Charlie was the toddler on her hip, then the baby was Percy. 

It was so weird to see this. She knew Bill and Charlie as fully grown wizards, not little boys with endless energy. Merlin, in her time Bill was married with a baby on the way. Instead of being out taming real dragons, Charlie was clutching a stuffed dragon plushy, one of the horns in his mouth and his big blue eyes fixed right on her. Hermione held out her hand to stop the eldest Weasley child from running further away from his mother and gave Molly a smile as the woman gave her a relieved look and grabbed her son by his hand. “Thank you so much. They can be a bit much but it’s even harder to catch up to them now.” She gestured at her large stomach. Hermione gave her an understanding smile. “It was no problem, M-“

She quickly cut herself off, having almost called her by her name despite the fact that she wasn’t supposed to know it yet. Hermione cleared her throat and smiled. Molly was busy trying to get Bill to keep a hold of her hand, so Hermione took the opening to leave. She breathed slowly as she walked away. She felt the oddest surge of panic building up in her chest. It seemed out of place now, after being in this time for a day already. This kind of panic would have made sense in the first hour. But running into Molly made it all so much more real and she suddenly felt short of breath. She warded off the black creeping into her vision and was humiliated to feel wetness gathering in her eyes. 

She quickly wiped at them and sniffed, eventually regaining her composure. She couldn’t just break down like that in public, which would draw unwanted eyes. She sighed a little and looked around, trying to think of anything else she needed to buy. After a moment of contemplation she made her way into Flourish and Blotts. She went directly to the section dedicated to studies of time and time travelling, grabbing the ones that looked the most promising. Her eyes moved over the titles as she nodded _A Study in Traveling Through Time_ by Robin Coates, _Tricky Terrible Time_ by Olivius Batherun and _Memoirs of A Time Traveler_ by Frederick Van Oosterlaken. 

She held them carefully and proceeded to browse around the store, looking for any other potentially relevant books. That didn’t happen though so with her purchases in hand she headed up to the counter. She purchased the books and left the store with them in a bag hooked around her wrist, desperately hoping she would find some kind of answer within the leather bound tomes. The woman in her dream was weighing even heavier on her mind. She was convinced that she had something to do with her current situation. It was just too much of a coincidence to be anything else. She sighed and rubbed the side of her face tiredly. 

Days passed by. Every time she closed her eyes to sleep, the woman was there, lingering in her peripheral. But she always disappeared before Hermione could face her full on. It grew increasingly frustrating. The books had not proved to be of much use other than being interesting to read. She grew restless as days passed and eventually began to accept that maybe she truly was to be stuck here in 1976. She sat up in the bed at the Leaky, staring at the lazy sunshine drifting through her windows. She changed into a new set of black robes that she had purchased the day before, heading down into the pub for breakfast. After that, she used the Floo to go to Hogsmeade. If she truly was stuck here, she was going to change things.

“Terrible things happen to wizards who mess with time.” 

The words bounced around inside of her skull, making her nerves flicker with distress constantly. But, as she firmly told herself, she would risk it. If there was even so much as the slightest chance that she could prevent hundreds of innocent people from dying, if there was a chance that Harry would never have to be put into countless life or death situations… it was worth whatever may happen to her. She couldn’t worry about her own life at the cost of hundreds of others.

If she was going to change things, she knew exactly where she had to be. Hogwarts. It was the best place. People like Snape and Regulus Black, they would be there. And perhaps she could guide them back into the right path before the dark side swallowed them whole. She personally still held a grudge towards Snape. Being a spy was not an excuse for the way he had treated the students. But her hatred had dimmed with the news and she was ready to help him, personality flaws and all. Of course there was always the chance that they would still make the wrong choice. She could just try and urge them in the right direction. 

And Pettigrew… well, she didn’t know what to think of him. On one hand, she just wanted to rid the world of the snivelling rat that had caused so much hardship in the life of her closest friend. On the other hand, she wanted to try and save him too. She knew that at some point during this school year, he would start to spy for Voldemort out of fear. That would continue on for the next four years, leading up to the death of James and Lily. But if she could change that… James, Sirius and Remus would never have to know the betrayal of a friend. Peter could live a better life, one of honor instead of cowardice. Unlike Harry, she believed with all her heart that a bad person can become good and a good person can go bad. All it took was a nudge in a certain direction to trigger that. 

She stepped out of the flames and into the Three Broomsticks, where a much younger Madame Rosmerta was carrying a tray of foaming butterbeer to a table of wizards all dressed in the same shade of purple, cloaks fastened with a silver exploding star. Some sort of club perhaps? Her eyes focused on them for another moment before traveling to a young couple in the corner booth. A pang in her heart made her think of Ron. The boy was tall, with fiery red hair and bright blue eyes. While things may have been awkward between them, he was still her friend and she missed him very much at times.

She looked elsewhere, heading out of the pub and into the sunny streets of the wizarding village. Cheerful people were travelling to and from the shops, basking in the late summer sun. Hermione breathed in the fresh air, allowing it to wash the lingering smoke in her throat and soothe her mind. The air carried the warmth of summer and a hint of wildflowers, along with a tinge of chimney smoke. Overall pleasant, it was so familiar that it made her feel much better. She held on to the papers in her hands. She had visited the goblins at Gringotts and spoken to the goblin in charge of identification paperwork. 

He had listened to her story and all it took was a stack of Galleons and some compliments to get what she needed. Paperwork that gave all of her correct information, with slight edits to her birth date, were made and given to her. They were hopefully enough to make her plan work. According the papers, she was seventeen years old, the daughter of a muggle and a squib who had been homeschooled by her magical relatives. She feared that Dumbledore would see right through her, he always seemed to do exactly that. But it was her best shot. Besides that, she had strong mental shields that would hopefully keep the truth locked away. 

She walked the familiar path that would lead her back to Hogwarts, the one place that had meant so much to her during the early years of her teenage life. She hummed to herself, pushing back any negative thoughts about what she was about to do. If you go into something believing that you are going to fail, then you will. It was as simple as that.


End file.
